Seattle Mayor Harrell unveils plan for transportation funding measure
Here's what transportation priorities would be funded by Seattle's transportation levy if approved by voters this November. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a $1.35 billion property tax measure for the city's Department of Transportation (SDOT) over the next eight years, a replacement for the $930 million Move Seattle levy approved in 2015. The proposal would cost around $36 per month, or $12 more than current pay. The property tax levy, a cornerstone for SDOT, accounts for roughly 30% of the department’s budget. The largest share of funds would go towards repaving and improving Seattle’�s busiest streets, with $218 million also allocated for bridge repair and maintenance. The new proposal does not specify specific locations for new bike lanes or pavement or transit improvements. It also includes safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, increasing the budget for the Vision Zero initiative by 150%.
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Voters will decide this November whether Seattle’s Department of Transportation should get $1.35 billion dollars in property taxes over the next eight years to repave busy streets, maintain bridges, build and repair sidewalks and expand the city’s bike network.
The draft outline released by Mayor Bruce Harrell on Thursday would be a replacement for the expiring, $930 million Move Seattle levy, which voters approved in 2015. For the owner of a median-valued home in Seattle, the measure would cost around $36 a month, or $12 more than what they currently pay. Inflation means the buying power of those dollars would be only slightly more than that of the previous levy, SDOT director Greg Spotts said Thursday.
The property tax levy has become a cornerstone for SDOT, accounting for roughly 30% of the department’s budget. This will be the third consecutive measure considered by voters, the previous two covering the periods from 2006 to the end of 2024.
The last levy was widely viewed as overpromising and went through a “reset” to recalibrate expectations, though many of the originally proposed projects have either been completed or are in progress. The marquee projects are new RapidRide bus routes, including the completed H line through West Seattle, the in-progress G line on Madison and the planned J line along Eastlake.
A new slate of politicians in City Hall has called for the next levy proposal to focus on “basics” like bridge work, pothole repair and repaving projects.
Spotts framed the central goal of this draft as “maintain and modernize.” The previous levy, he said, was overly prescriptive in places, limiting the city’s flexibility. That was tested in 2020 as officials dealt with the beginning of the pandemic and the closure of the West Seattle Bridge.
As it’s currently written, the new proposal sorts dollars into broad priorities and identifies a few areas of focus, but largely does not name specific locations that will get new bike lanes or pavement or transit improvements.
“We’re really looking to moving toward more holistic benefit design,” Spotts said.
The largest share of dollars, $423 million, would go toward repaving and improving Seattle’s busiest streets. Department officials said they’d set a goal of filling every reported pothole within 72 hours and repaving 38% of the city’s busiest blocks. It would also do full improvements on nine corridors. Which those might be is not determined, but could include 23rd Avenue north of Madison, Elliott Way, NW Market Street, Rainier Avenue South, 35th Avenue Southwest and more.
The package would also spend $218 million on bridge repair and maintenance, or around $27 million a year. A 2020 audit warned that the city’s many bridges were not getting the minimum $34 million a year investment they needed. Seattle currently spends between $6 million and $7 million a year. Francesa Stefan, SDOT’s deputy director, said they’re hopeful they can bolster the new levy’s investments with state and federal grants.
Special attention would be paid to the Ballard, Fremont and University bridges over the ship canal. Each would see improvements to their aging electrical systems that, when broken, snarl movement throughout the city.
The other dollars would be spent shoring up other bridges — including to and from Magnolia — without fully replacing them.
One point of focus in recent months has been on Seattle’s sidewalks, many of which are either deteriorating or missing altogether. The new proposal would spend $100 million on sidewalks — roughly maintaining the current pace of adding around 25 blocks of new sidewalk per year and continuing the reconstruction of curb ramps around the city.
The package also promises safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists — increasing the budget for the Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030 by 150%. It would spend nearly $100 million for new bike lanes — though their location and number have not been defined — and even more on new lighting, more neighborhood greenways, and redesigns of 12 of the city’s deadliest corridors.
Seattle would also kick in $30 million to match a $50 million grant from the state to improve Aurora Avenue, the city’s deadliest street.
As for transit, SDOT said a new levy would allow it to make reliability improvements to several key bus routes, naming routes 7 and 36 as likely candidates. The extent of those improvements is unclear but could include new dedicated bus lanes.
The Move Seattle levy has underspent its budget for most quarters dating back to 2018. A confluence of factors, including COVID, the concrete workers’ strike and weather, has built the backlog over the years.
Spotts said he’s confident all of the Move Seattle levy will be committed by the end of the year, even if the projects themselves take longer to complete. Going forward, he said SDOT is ready to push new dollars out the door.
“Delivery capability has never been as strong as it has been in the last two years,” he said.
City officials opted for an eight-year levy over the nine of the previous two so they could align it with presidential elections, when voters turn out in much higher number.
The framework will now be open to public comment through April 26. After that, it will go to the Seattle City Council for consideration. The council will then vote whether to send it to the November ballot.